You Have To Play #PLAYSports

If you want to be good at anything, you have to PLAY!  If you want to be good at sports, you have to play sports.  A lot.  I’m not talking about practice or games; I am talking about playing.  Playing on your own with your ball, having fun, and learning what you can do with it. 

If you want to be good at basketball, you have to play with the basketball the same way kids play with toy race cars and barbies.  The more you play with it, the better you get.  You have to learn all of the tricks and moves and shots that you can do with it.  The more you play with it, the more ‘tricks’ that you learn, and the more your skills and talent grows.  But, you have to play.

If you want to be a great quarterback, you have to play with how you can throw the ball.  You have to play with how hard you can throw it, you have to play with how many different routes you can throw to, and you have to play with how many ways you can throw the ball.  You have to play with how many ways you can get out of the pocket.  You have to play.

It’s the same with all sports, and it’s the same with everything in life.  If you want to be a great actor, you have to play with acting.  Play with acting out as many characters as you can.  The more characters that you play with, the more roles that you can play, the more versatile you are, and the more roles that you can get.

If you want to be a great leader, you have to play with how many ways you can influence as many different types of personalities as you can.  Leadership is different because you should want to lead with character and integrity, so you have to be careful with how you play and you have to be careful with how you use your influence.  But, you have to play.

And, the more distractions in front of you, the more things that you have to play with.  The more toys you buy, the more toys that they have to play with.  The more movies you buy, or the more electronics you buy, or the more whatever you buy, the more whatever you have to play with.

Determine what 3 things you think are important for them to play with and make sure that there aren't too many distractions that keep them from what's important.  God, family and friends.  Everything else is extra, so make sure that the extra is important and worthy of their time.  

To be great at anything, you have to love it enough to play with it enough to get enough and comfortable enough to be better than the rest.

You have to play.

Do You Bring Joy To Those You Lead

Noah Webster once defined joy as the passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good.

Joy is being happy about what is going on in your life and being excited about what is about to happen.

Do you bring joy to those around you?  Do you bring joy to those you coach?  Are others excited to play for you or to be around you?  Find joy for yourself first and then be a joy to others.